ADT - Spare Batteries are a Must!
By Bosoxy onHow I ever heard the phone ring, Ill never know!
I was in my boyfriends home. I had gotten off of work early and decided to go out and pick up his items for his favorite meal and cook it for him as a surprise when he got home from work but here I stand in his home not able to hear myself think
The alarm is DEAFENING!!!
What was the code?
How did I forget the code!
Thankfully, somehow I heard the phone ring and I knew the password so at least the police werent deployed What a nice surprise that would be!
Uhhhh honey can you come bail me out of jail? Yeah right!
The woman on the other end of the line was great. She could not tell me the code to the system but she did walk me back through the steps of how to shut it off and miracle of miracles her calm voice broke my brain freeze and I got that alarm off!
Let me tell you, it was so loud that I heard it in my head for quite a while after it was off It was sooooo loud! Did I say it was loud, because it was!
The ADT system works quite efficiently.
When it is installed there is a choice of a variety of door and window sensors as well as eyes. If there are pets in the home the eyes can be placed up higher so that a pet walking around a home will not set off the alarm.
The ADT system also has a fire/smoke alarm that is in sync with the unit.
If any of the sensors, eyes or fire/smoke alarms go off and ADT representative will call the home immediately. When answering the phone a password must be stated to ensure that you are not the perpetrator. Ifthere is trouble or if the password is incorrect, the police or fire department are contacted and sent out by the ADT representative.
There is also the super loud alarm, which in itself is enough to drive anyone away!
One of the issues that I have with the system is that the batteries used for the system are hard to find locally and quite pricey. It is a small inconvenience unless you do not have a spare when the battery in the smoke alarm starts to get low then the system tells you a battery is low. in a voice that seems soothing the first 5 - 10 times she tells you, but then gets extremely annoying after a while Apparently in the version of the system that my boyfriend has there is no override to shut off the voice for the smoke alarm. This is supposed to be a safety feature so that you will not just shut if off and forget about. While good in theory, when the battery decides to get low at ohhhhh 2am when there is no way to get a replacement, it gets old really fast
So, ya know, if you like your sleep and you have an ADT or similar system that takes fancy smancy batteries, always have a spare on hand!
Since I live here now and we still have the system there are extra batteries in a very convenient place!
My inlaws have this system in their home. One time they forgot to shut off the alarm before opening a window for some fresh air. Let me tell you it sure was LOUD and the phone rang right away. We were frantically trying to get them to tell us the code to punch in but it didn't work! The person on the phone asked for our password. We finally got the thing shut down but boy oh boy...a person trying to break in would lose their hearing....Just kidding...but it would definitely scare away intruders! Thanks for the warning about the batteries. I wonder if they have ever had that problem. Better let them know!
The batteries have a shelf life. I use similar batteries for other functions and it always seems the spares die about the same time as the in-use batteries. So don't buy them at the same time.
I would say that if the alarm is this good, then it would be worth the extra price for these batteries.
my first experience with ADT was similar to yours except that the jerks never called when the alarm went off (so, apparently, the "trial period" only covers the system, not support? what a load of crock!). No phone call (what if someone really HAD broken in?), rude CSRs, and the system was deafening. UGH! Glad you have had better experiences with them.
Great information. Thanks for the important tip about the batteries and keeping spares around.
Sounds like a great system. I've seen some homes with signs that say they have ADT; I always wondered if it worked well...now I know :0)
Thanks for sharing your story =-) I have been wondering if these systems were worth it. Thanks for the info!
What a wonderfully humorous experience you had with your boyfriend's security alarm. Thanks for sharing.